PULLMAN, Wash. -- Kate Sommer, a senior libero on the Washington State University volleyball team, will be competing at the 11th Annual Global Challenge volleyball tournament in Pula, Croatia, July 13-16.
Sommer, from Pacific Palisades, Calif., is a member of the 10-player BIP Midwest U22 USA High Performance squad. Sommer will be joining collegiate players from Northern Illinois, Creighton, Yale, Pittsburgh, Florida, Central Florida, Indiana and New Hampshire who were selected from USA Volleyball Open Tryouts held in February of this year. The team's head coach is Eric Schulze, the Club Fusion program director, and the assistant coach is Karen Sonders, a Wildcat Juniors club team coach.
The Global Challenge started in Salt Lake City in 2005 and has grown to a 24-team international tournament with top teams in U17 and U22 divisions from around the world. The 2015 Global Challenge, the 11th annual, is hosted by the Adriatic seaside town of Pula, Croatia. In the U22 division there will be seven USA teams and seven European teams, playing in a format very similar to the Davis Cup tennis format, with the USA teams versus the European teams until the final single elimination tournament.
After flying into Venice, Italy, Sommer's tentative itinerary includes training with team in Maribor, Slovenia, July 8-11, with planned daytime sightseeing trips to include Bled, Croatia, Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Graz, Austria. The Global Challenge opening ceremonies will be July 12, in Pula, Croatia, with the tournament matches held July 13-16 at the Dom Sportova. The schedule is yet to be published but can be found closer to tournament dates at www.bringitusa.com/gc15/schedule/ as are the Live Stream links to the two courts used during the tournament.